A protester holds a flag during an Occupy Seattle protest outside the Sheraton Hotel where Chase Bank CEO Jamie Dimon was speaking on Wednesday, November 2, 2011. A few hundred people tried to block the doors to the hotel during an event by the University of Washington business school. less

A protester holds a flag during an Occupy Seattle protest outside the Sheraton Hotel where Chase Bank CEO Jamie Dimon was speaking on Wednesday, November 2, 2011. A few hundred people tried to block the doors ... more

Photo: JOSHUA TRUJILLO

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"Occupy Seattle" protesters march in Seattle on Oct. 15, 2011.

"Occupy Seattle" protesters march in Seattle on Oct. 15, 2011.

Photo: Joshua Trujillo/seattlepi.com

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Occupy Seattle may face eviction soon

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School officials will vote Wednesday whether to evict Occupy Seattle from Seattle Central Community College, after the school said the group's tent city has led to rats, dirty needles, human feces and other health and safety risks.

Despite the problems, the school has been powerless to evict Occupiers from the Capitol Hill campus, due to a lack of legal standing. No state code exists to ban camping at colleges.

That's prompted officials to draft an emergency rule to outlaw camping on any campus in the Seattle Community College network. The proposal will be considered at a school board meeting Wednesday.

"The encampment is overcrowded and unsanitary," said Seattle Community Colleges Chancellor Jill Wakefield in a recent memo to the board.

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"The College has observed and received reports of syringes, human feces, public urination, and drug and alcohol usage. The encampment is in direct proximity to the child care facility, rendering its playground unusable."

Even before protesters moved from Westlake Park to Seattle Central on Oct. 29, the school had concern. Officials worried the campers – part of a national protest against economic injustice – would disrupt students and a weekly farmers market.

But as the weeks wore on, they began worrying about health and safety. They found dirty needles and beer cans in the school's child-care playground, prompting them to keep kids inside for recess.

They hired extra security guards, after an assault arrest, and more clean-up crews to pick up garbage. They said the camp of about 150 protesters, 60 tents and a "dozen large dogs" was a magnet for people with mental illness and addiction woes – already tough issues in the neighborhood.

"It's becoming increasingly clear that their presence is at a real cost to Seattle Central Community College," school spokeswoman Judy Kitzman said last week. She said the school was spending an estimated $20,000 a week on security and clean-up.

Health inspectors, by request of the school, visited the camp this month. Over the course of three visits, they found unsanitary food handling, sewage and dirty water going into storm drains, and "overflowing and uncontained" garbage.

There were also "uncontrolled dogs roaming at will" and reported lice infestation.

"There appears to be a lack of organization and responsibility within the encampment," inspectors wrote of their last visit on Nov. 14. Chancellor Wakefield said inspectors characterized conditions as having "deteriorated."

But James Apa, a spokesman for Public Health - Seattle & King County, said the goal of inspectors isn't to shut down the camp. Rather, it's to educate campers.

"Our focus and intent is having the environment healthy and safe for everyone to use," Apa said.

The state Attorney General's Office said the emergency rule, if adopted, would be effective immediately for 120 days. But Patricia Paquette, a spokeswoman for Seattle Community Colleges, said the school had no specific timeline on when it would start enforcing the rule.

If passed, the rule would ban sleeping on school property, "carrying on cooking activities," putting up tents and other shelters, and "storing personal belongings."

The school can apply to create a permanent ban on camping, but that involves a lengthy process with public notices and hearings.

The Seattle Community College District Board of Trustees is scheduled to meet Wednesday at noon at 1500 Harvard Ave. in Seattle.